Start small, and keep a winning attitude The Word For You… | UCB Radio
Loading...

Start small, and keep a winning attitude

Today
Wednesday February 25, 2026
1 min read
0:00 0:00

“Do not despise…small beginnings.” Zechariah 4:10 NLT

Juan grew up in Puerto Rico, the son of a sugarcane plantation foreman. One of a family of eight, he lived in a three-room shack with a dirt floor and no toilet. His first job, at age six, was driving oxen to plow the cane fields. He worked eight hours a day and earned one dollar. Juan said it was in the cane fields that he learned important lessons like being on time, working hard, and being loyal and respectful to your employers. His job and small income were a great source of self-esteem. At age seven he got a job at a golf course spotting balls for golfers, and he began to dream of playing golf and earning enough money to buy a bicycle. The more he dreamed, the more he thought, “Why not?” He made a golf club out of a guava limb and a piece of pipe, then hammered an empty tin can into a ball. Next, he dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth between them. He practiced his “golf” with the same intensity he put into his job in the cane field, and he got good – very good. In his thirty-one years as a pro golfer, Juan “Chi Chi” Rodríguez won eight PGA tour events and twenty-four major tournaments, and he was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. What can we learn from him? Two things: (1) Be willing to start small. The Bible says, “Do not despise…small beginnings.” (2) Be willing to think big because you serve a big God (see Ephesians 3:20).

The Word for You Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from Celebration Enterprises, Inc. Copyright © 2024


Bible in a Year:

Get daily encouragement straight to your inbox!

Start your day with The Word For You Today—a trusted source of daily encouragement designed to speak right to your heart. Whether you're juggling work, family, or just needing a quiet moment with God, these short, powerful devotionals help you stay grounded in faith and hope. It’s like a gentle nudge from a friend reminding you that God is with you, even in the chaos. Perfect with your morning coffee or during school drop-off downtime, The Word For You Today fits beautifully into your routine and brings spiritual encouragement just when you need it most.
We'll never share your email with anyone else.
You'll get an email each morning and you can unsubscribe anytime!

Advertisement

Your gift to The Word For You Today and UCB Radio helps ensure daily encouragement get to people in their darkest times: 

“I read The Word For You Today every morning before my kids wake up. It keeps me grounded and gives me strength to face the day.”
– Jessica, UCB Listener & Mom of 3

Donate

Get positive, uplifting UCB Radio and The Word For You Today wherever you go with our FREE app. 

Download

Let us stand with you and pray for your concerns.

UCB Radio Prayerline is powered by

Request Prayer

Previous Daily Encouragement

Tue February 24

Love and serve others

In 1881, shortly after Booker T. Washington became head of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama that trained schoolteachers, he was walking past the house...

Read more
Fri February 20

Your rewards in heaven

The historian Edward Gibbon tracked the speedy progress of Christianity in the days of the Roman Empire and pointed to five reasons for it...

Read more
Thu February 19

Salvation is a gift

Jack Welch, who guided the General Electric company through some of its most profitable years, wrote a book called Winning. Compiling many of the...

Read more

Advertisement